Early Career Researcher Grants

The 2024 Early Career Researcher Grant call is closed.

Early Career Researcher Grants are available to help recently appointed Early Career Researchers further develop their own independent programme of research. They can be used for new research projects, critical pilot studies, critical replications, proof-of-concept work or to supplement other research programmes, whether funded by other grants or not.

Early Career Researchers who have started a recently-awarded independent research position and have received other funding, as principal investigator, to start their own independent research programme are eligible. To be eligible, applicants must meet all of the below requirements

• Must hold an eligible early career research position which includes, inter alia, a lectureship or other tenured/tenure-track position, or wholly independent postdoctoral Fellowship (an “eligible position”).
• Must have started their “eligible position” at the closing date for applications.
• Must be within the first two years of taking up their “eligible position” at the closing date for applications.
• If the “eligible position” is fixed term, the early career researcher must have two years or more of their eligible position remaining at the closing date for applications.
• Must be able to provide evidence that they have already developed their own independent programme of research.
• Must have obtained funding, as principal investigator, from funding sources other than Medical Research Scotland to support the research expenses/consumables of their independent programme of research which extends beyond salary costs.
• Must not be working for a higher degree at the closing date for applications.
• If the application is successful, the Early Career Researcher must not be working for a higher degree at the time the MRS Early Career Researcher award will be active.

It is expected that applicants will hold a PhD and the Early Career Researcher’s contract has a substantial amount of time dedicated to research.

Clinical lecturers/early career researchers may apply if they have access to research facilities, have contracts which dedicate a substantial amount of time to research and can provide evidence of having established their own independent research programme.

Applicants must be based at a Scottish University or Scottish Research Institute and applications must come from within a Scottish University or Scottish Research Institute.

If you are in doubt on your eligibility, please contact applications@medicalresearchscotland.org.

There is no requirement or restriction on the subject or nature of the research, provided it addresses a question relevant to human health – the causation, prevention, diagnosis or treatment of illness or the development of medical or surgical appliances. If a new device is being developed, there must be a clear plan for meeting regulatory standards.

The maximum value of each award is 20,000. We will support direct costs and consumables. The grants cannot be used for salary costs or ad hoc payments to students or maintenance costs for equipment. Awards will be made on the basis that applicants can purchase any necessary materials and invoice MRS to recover the costs.

A Set-up Report and a short Final Report on each project must be submitted on the approved Report Forms, within 3 months after the agreed start date and within 3 months after the end date of the project, respectively. The Final Report must be submitted and approved as satisfactory before final invoices are paid. The Final Report should describe the scientific outcomes, impact or pathway to impact, consequential further awards and personal development benefits of the award.

Awards are for immediate use from the agreed start date and will normally be of 12 to 24 month duration.

Following our current regulations, applications must come from within a Scottish University or Scottish Research Institute.

Permissions: if ethical approval is required for the proposed project, please check with your local Ethics Committee that your project can be reviewed and considered quickly.

Authorisation: any relevant authorisation for research work, including animal research, must be obtained before any research requiring authorisations is conducted.

Applications must be made on the forms provided, which can be downloaded at the right hand side of this page, and submitted as PDF documents, with signatures.

Payments: Costs must be met initially by the Administering Institution, which should submit fully itemised quarterly invoices in arrears to MRS for reimbursement. Invoices must include the award reference number, the claim period and a fully identifiable description of the items being claimed.

We aim to notify applicants by email of the outcome of their application by the end of November.